Hello there,
I am a new member to this group and I have read through some of the answers and they seem quite helpful
I have been swimming daily for enjoyment and exercise for the past 10 years.
I have had no issues up until last spring when the pool gym I go to switch from bromine to a saltwater pool.
From what the folks there that work there tell me the chlorine levels tend to be very high and the room and the club smell of chlorine. They are not really sure what the problem is although they have been working diligently to resolve the issue. They suspect it’s because there is too much usage and not enough filtering out of the chlorine.
The issues that I’ve been having are my skin is very dry very shiny and I have lost a lot of my body hair legs chest arms etc. I haven’t noticed much on my head but there was a lot more there so I’m probably losing it there too. And I also sometimes have issues with itching skin.
Before my swim I generally take a very quick rinse which is what we’re supposed to do before we go into the pool. After swim are use a generic off-the-shelf body wash and then later on at home at night I take a third shower with body wash in normal shampoo.
Any suggestions on how I could help with these issues?
Thanks in advance!
Hi David,
Based on your description, the pool chemistry is way off and not in the way many of your fellow users are thinking.
The first aspect to help you understand is that "chlorine" smell everyone talks about. That is actually not chlorine every smells - it is a compound known as "chloramine" which is the by-product of chlorine reacting with biological compounds like sweat, urine, etc.. Often times, that smell is because there is too little chlorine in the pool compared to the bather load. There is also an issue with ventilation or lack thereof which allows the chloramines to stay in the pool air instead of being exhausted outside the building.
Some on this forum will cringe, but I suspect your chlorine level needs to be closer to 3 ppm than what it is - probably less than 1.5 ppm. The bather load is the key component to this puzzle. There are a number of other factors that affect this as well - your pool operator should be able to handle it.
The second issue with your body hair indicates the alkalinity is far too high. When this happened at a pool I used to swim in, I would lose all of the hair on my body - everywhere. If the total alkalinity is above 150-170, it needs to be lowered to under 140. It can be a bit tricky to lower the alkalinity (with muriatic acid) while keeping the pH balanced at 7.4-7.5 (with baking soda). A pool operator should have no trouble doing the calculations and making it happen.
Good Luck.
paul
Hi David,
Based on your description, the pool chemistry is way off and not in the way many of your fellow users are thinking.
The first aspect to help you understand is that "chlorine" smell everyone talks about. That is actually not chlorine every smells - it is a compound known as "chloramine" which is the by-product of chlorine reacting with biological compounds like sweat, urine, etc.. Often times, that smell is because there is too little chlorine in the pool compared to the bather load. There is also an issue with ventilation or lack thereof which allows the chloramines to stay in the pool air instead of being exhausted outside the building.
Some on this forum will cringe, but I suspect your chlorine level needs to be closer to 3 ppm than what it is - probably less than 1.5 ppm. The bather load is the key component to this puzzle. There are a number of other factors that affect this as well - your pool operator should be able to handle it.
The second issue with your body hair indicates the alkalinity is far too high. When this happened at a pool I used to swim in, I would lose all of the hair on my body - everywhere. If the total alkalinity is above 150-170, it needs to be lowered to under 140. It can be a bit tricky to lower the alkalinity (with muriatic acid) while keeping the pH balanced at 7.4-7.5 (with baking soda). A pool operator should have no trouble doing the calculations and making it happen.
Good Luck.
paul
